Financial New Year’s Resolutions
Are you ready to close out the year? It may be a great time to review your finances and find out what you can do to improve your financial health. Especially if your plans for the new year include buying…
What Goes Into Your Mortgage Rate? Many Factors
A mortgage rate is like the time displayed on a digital wristwatch: You see a number, but you don’t see the complex calculations concealed beneath. Since August, mortgage rates have lingered near the lowest levels in three years — right…
6 Ways to Build Your Home Equity (and Savings) Faster
A home purchase brings together so many things under one roof: dreams, shelter, status, maybe a passport to better schools and neighborhoods. And one more thing: It gives you a forced savings account. It does that by letting you build home…
Attention Veterans & Active Duty Military
Attention Veterans and Active Duty Military, for mortgage applications taken in November we will credit you the cost of your appraisal when your loan closes.* If you're looking for a home, make sure you check out the HUNT Real Estate…
Stop! 6 Ways You’re Sabotaging Your Mortgage Preapproval
Homebuyers make a lot of mistakes that hurt their chances of getting a mortgage preapproval from their lender. You don’t want to join their ranks and sabotage your home purchase. To find out what those missteps are, we talked to two…
The 15-Year Mortgage: Pros and Cons
A 15-year mortgage is the dream home loan for home buyers who can afford the much higher monthly payments and want to shred their mortgage in half the usual time while saving thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars…
How a Remodeling Project Changes Your Property Tax Bill
You transformed your dingy basement into an entertainment room, guest quarters and a three-quarter bath. Yay! Dream realized. What’s more, the makeover helps boost your home’s value. But increased value from home remodeling can increase your property tax bill. And if…
FHA Loan vs. Conventional Mortgage: Which Is Right for You?
When exploring mortgage options, it’s likely you’ll hear about Federal Housing Administration and conventional loans. Let’s see, FHA loans are for first-time home buyers and conventional mortgages are for more established buyers — is that it? Not necessarily. Actually, the…
Dreaming of Living in a New Place? Here’s How to Make It a Reality
Even if you love your home, there’s a chance it isn’t in your ideal place to live. But the space between fantasizing about your dream location and actually moving there is potentially miles and thousands of dollars apart. Just over…
Buying an Energy-Efficient Home: A Financially Bright Idea
Whether you give a hoot about the environment or not, it could pay to think about energy efficiency when shopping for a home. Newer houses certified by Energy Star — the federal government’s energy-efficiency rating program — use an average of 20%…
